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Many Canon digital cameras (e.g., the IXUS line) have this special mode for shooting called Smart Shutter. In this mode, the camera takes control of when to take a shot instead of a person manually pressing the shutter button. The shot is triggered in three different ways—through a smile, a wink, and an additional face. This function can prove to be quite useful for situations such as taking group photos with the photographer included or capturing a perfect shot of a child or baby smiling.

Steps

Method1

Auto-Shooting with Smile Detection

1

Turn the camera on. Press the “ON/OFF” button at the top of the camera. The camera will power on and the lens will come out.

2

Switch to Normal mode. At the top of the camera is a switch. Bring it to the far-left mode. The icon for that is a camera.

3

Select Smart Shutter mode. Press the “FUNC SET” button on the middle of the circular button at the back of the camera. This will bring out the toolbar on the screen. Go to the shooting mode or shooting scenes, and select “Smart Shutter.”

The icon for Smart Shutter is a camera with a smile.

The camera will enter Shooting Standby mode, with the Smart Shutter icon displayed at the top-right corner of the screen.

4

Select Smile Detection mode. The camera’s Smart Shutter mode has three submodes—Smile Detection, Wink Self-Timer, and Face Self-Timer. This can be changed by pressing the “DISP” button on the circular button at the back of the camera. Press this button once, and select the first icon for Smile. The camera is now in Smile Detection mode.

5

Set the number of shots. You can input how many shots under this mode the camera will do. Press the up or down buttons while in the submode selection to set the number of shots. It can be between one and ten.

This is the number of continuous shots the camera will take once a smile is detected.

6

Confirm the setting. Once done with the Smile Detection mode and the number of shots, press the “FUNC SET” button to finalize the setting.

7

Aim the camera. With the Smile Detection mode on, the camera will start monitoring faces wherever it’s aimed at. At this point, you can’t adjust the focus, zoom, or composition anymore.

8

Smile or have your subjects smile. Once the camera detects a smile, it will shoot based on the number of shots and take the required pictures.

Have the subjects turn the faces toward the camera and open their mouth wide enough to make their teeth visible. The camera will be able to detect the smiles easily this way.

9

View the pictures. Press the “Play” button at the back of the camera to view the pictures. Navigate through them by pressing the left and right keys from the circular button.

Method2

Using the Wink Self-Timer

1

Turn the camera on. Press the “ON/OFF” button at the top of the camera. The camera will power on and the lens will come out.

2

Switch to Normal mode. At the top of the camera is a switch. Bring it to the far-left mode. The icon for that is a camera.

3

Select Smart Shutter mode. Press the “FUNC SET” button on the middle of the circular button at the back of the camera. This will bring out the toolbar on the screen. Go to the shooting mode or shooting scenes, and select “Smart Shutter.”

The icon for Smart Shutter is a camera with a smile.

The camera will enter Shooting Standby mode, with the Smart Shutter icon displayed at the top-right corner of the screen.

4

Select Wink Self-Timer mode. The camera’s Smart Shutter mode has three submodes—Smile Detection, Wink Self-Timer, and Face Self-Timer. This can be changed by pressing the “DISP” button on the circular button at the back of the camera. Press this button once and select the second icon for Wink Self-Timer. The camera is now in Wink Self-Timer mode.

5

Set the number of shots. You can input how many shots under this mode the camera will do. Press the up or down buttons while in the submode selection to set the number of shots. It can be between one and ten.

This is the number of continuous shots the camera will take once a smile is detected.

6

Confirm the setting. Once done with the Smile Detection mode and the number of shots, press the “FUNC SET” button to finalize the setting.

7

Aim the camera. Focus, zoom, and compose your shot of your subjects.

8

Press the shutter halfway. Once you’re good with your composition, press the shutter button halfway. Make sure the green box is displayed on the person that will wink.

9

Press the shutter all the way. Press the shutter button all the way down to have the camera enter the Shooting Standby mode. “Wink to take picture” will be displayed on the screen, and the camera will wait for a wink.

The lamp will blink as it waits.

10

Wink. Have your subject wink slowly but deliberately. The camera will take the shots after two seconds after a wink is detected.

If the camera doesn’t detect a wink within 15 seconds, it will go ahead and take the shots.

11

View the pictures. Press the “Play” button at the back of the camera to view the pictures. Navigate through them by pressing the left and right keys from the circular button.

Method3

Using the Face Self-Timer

1

Turn the camera on. Press the “ON/OFF” button at the top of the camera. The camera will power on and the lens will come out.

2

Switch to Normal mode. At the top of the camera is a switch. Bring it to the far-left mode. The icon for that is a camera.

3

Select Smart Shutter mode. Press the “FUNC SET” button on the middle of the circular button at the back of the camera. This will bring out the toolbar on the screen. Go to the shooting mode or shooting scenes, and select “Smart Shutter.”

The icon for Smart Shutter is a camera with a smile.

The camera will enter Shooting Standby mode, with the Smart Shutter icon displayed at the top-right corner of the screen.

4

Select the Face Self-Timer mode. The camera’s Smart Shutter mode has three submodes—Smile Detection, Wink Self-Timer, and Face Self-Timer. This can be changed by pressing the “DISP” button on the circular button at the back of the camera. Press this button once and select the third icon for Face Self-Timer. The camera is now in Face Self-Timer mode.

5

Set the number of shots. You can input how many shots under this mode the camera will do. Press the up or down buttons while in the submode selection to set the number of shots. It can be between one and ten.

This is the number of continuous shots the camera will take once a smile is detected.

6

Confirm the setting. Once done with the Smile Detection mode and the number of shots, press the “FUNC SET” button to finalize the setting.

7

Aim the camera. Focus, zoom, and compose your shot of your subjects.

8

Press the shutter halfway. Once you’re good with your composition, press the shutter button halfway.

9

Press the shutter all the way. Press the shutter button all the way down to have the camera enter the Shooting Standby mode. “Look straight at camera to start count down” will be displayed on the screen, and the camera will wait for a new face to enter its frame.

The lamp will blink as it waits.

10

Join the subjects. Join the group to be included in the picture. Face the camera so it will recognize the new face. After two seconds of detection, the camera will take the shots.

If the camera doesn’t detect a new face within 15 seconds, it will go ahead and take the shots.

11

View the pictures. Press the play button at the back of the camera to view the pictures. Navigate through them by pressing the left and right keys from the circular button.

Article Info

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, volunteer authors worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has also been viewed 4,935 times.